Never Seen THIS before... - Videokarma.org TV - Video

Sandy G · #1 07-28-2007, 03:27 PM

...For all you Boatanchor fans, there are currently 3 VERY interesting Collins radios on You-Know-Where right now. 2 R-389s, that has to be some sort of a record, there were only 850 or so of them ever made. Usually there's maybe 2 or 3 get sold a year. Both of 'em are already at about twice what I gave for mine, & still have over a week to run. I'd estimate they'll both go for $2500-3K, anyhow. The other is an R-391, the Autotune version of the R-390. There were 1250 or so of them made, & this one DOESN'T have the uber-rare power supply to make the Autotune gizmotron work,-neither does mine-but you still have a vey nice radio. Of course, I have no interest in any of these, other than a passing interest to see how high they'll all go. Last week, there was a Fowler Industries 1984 R-390A on there, that was up to $8K before it got pulled. Fowler Industries apparently made 5 or so R-390As in 1984-85 to fulfill a contract for some Navy ships that were being made. Reportedly, they were handmade at $25-30K apiece, & were all pulled out as surplus & replaced by 1995. An R-390A being made from scratch like that in '85 made about as much sense as it would for Ford to make a '65 Galaxie 500 today...There were THOUSANDS of them sitting around in gov't warehouses as used surplus then....or, duh, they could have put out feelers to the hobby community & gotten a few that way...

mr_fixer · #2 07-30-2007, 04:02 PM

Hi Sandy, what do you do with a r-389, long wave and AM broadcast band radio? I can't believe the prices they are up to already, thats more bucks than a Scott Philharmonic. What are they used for, AM DXing? Or just collectible? Logan

Sandy G · #3 07-31-2007, 05:54 AM

Yes. To both. W/a KIWA BCB Loop, during the winter, you can get some astounding catches w/a 389. A guy had one in Denver, & was able to catch French LW/BCB stations' carriers, w/an occaisional bit of modulation. While that's not unheard of on the east coast, in the Rockies, its pretty amazing.

radioactive · #4 07-31-2007, 11:28 AM

guess i should of gotten one yrs ago but i thought the prices were even steep then.

sprman55 · #5 08-11-2007, 10:58 AM

Hello I have a Collins R-391 that i got 7 years ago by trading a non working air compresser for it! Its serial #29 and had the ifs alingned.. Dont see why Collins go for such high prices , i like the sound of my SP-600 and tuning over the collins..Plus so much lighter too. Gee maybe by the time i go to sell the Collins it be worth its wieght in gold ! Anybody seen a NC-400 for sale at a good price? Great site enjoy it a ton ..See you later thanks Angelo

Sandy G · #6 08-11-2007, 12:11 PM

Collinses have a mystique about them, somewhat like MacIntosh, SX-1980s, or G-33Ks. Actually MOST R-390As are NOT made by Collins, supposedly only about 1000 or so of the very early 1955 contract were. But ALL R-389s, & R-391s were Collins made. Do you have the Power Supply for the Autotune w/yours? I don't, I've never seen the Autotune on mine work... About half of the R-390s were made by Collins, Motorola made the rest. Even if yours has a "Collins" nameplate on it doesn't guarantee it IS one though...After they went thru Army depot rebuild a couple of times, they generally became pretty scrambled. The Collins modules had a peculiar looking "6" on the serial #s, & had certain-colored paint dots...Even that method of IDing them isn't 100%, though. I'm lucky enuff to have a 1955-contract R-390A that IS all-Collins, it was "gone thru" by R-390A guru Rick Mish, who proclaimed it genuine. Only thing we could figure out is that it had been in a lab somewhere, or was some general's personal set, & had escaped rough use, & being "depot-dawged" to death.

sprman55 · #7 08-14-2007, 05:04 PM

Hello yes somewhere i have a home brew ps for my R-391 ! Never tryed it was told not too.. Ah my Collins came out of Nrl labs in washington d c tag reads 4/1972 cal and repair... Still has USN/NRL property tags on it..It looks like its never been hacked into and plays well..Ijust dont care much for the tuning..Tho you can see where you are.. Iuse solid state NRD535d when i want to be sure im on freg.. Did know others made collins stuff.. I am thinking one day i have the set gone thru and find out if indeed its 100% Collins see you Angelo

mr_fixer · #8 08-15-2007, 11:29 AM

Wow I just looked up the r-389 Ebay and it sold for $3050, I would guess that this is the most desirable radio made by Collins, Oh by the way Sprman55 are you Angelo V. from the Nashville radio club, I'm Mike Arnold, Nathan's Friend I sold you some tubes a while ago.

sprman55 · #9 08-15-2007, 08:18 PM

Hello yes that be me! Small world huh.I have to dig around for the ps for the auto tune! I have not played the radio in months its covered to keep dirt dust off it ..Sure is heavy lol. Sure hope one day i get 3k for mine if and when i go to sell it see you around at the next swap meet Angelo